


through the night (and wall, and into your heart)

by nightinjae



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, jae needs sleep, sungjin is a dad, the tags make no sense, this makes no sense, what is this, wonpil cusses a lot, youngk is annoying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-13 22:12:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18040022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightinjae/pseuds/nightinjae
Summary: Jae sits still on his bed as the person kept going.I'm going crazy., he thinks, deciding to go ahead and get himself under the covers when he hears a veryverypainful sounding thud from the other side of the wall, accompanied by a yelp and a curse word.Jae rubs at his face.I'm definitely going crazy.He shifts around in his bed.Or maybe my neighbor is. Maybe both of us.He closes his eyes.





	through the night (and wall, and into your heart)

**Author's Note:**

> hi its my first fic of 2019 and im rusty therefore what is this idk it makes no sense

To say Jae is exhausted is an understatement.

Understatement of the decade, in fact. He's the embodiment of the typical _sleep-deprived, dying inside, runs on 3 cups of coffee, but is trying his best_ college student you'd probably read about in a fanfiction or something. _Maybe,_ he thinks. 

He rubs at his eyes as the clock on his desk read 3:00 am. He takes his glasses off, places them down and then proceeds to stare at the book in front of him, highlighter colors almost mixing and mingling as his vision swims.

He needs to sleep. But he can't.

His eyes skim through the first few statements, desperately trying to absorb any kind of knowledge that would be helpful for the test he'd be taking later. But his eyes seem to keep rereading the same sentence over and over again, till he gives up and lets out a groan. 

Okay, so maybe he _really_ needs to sleep.

He was about to turn off his lamp and faceplant into his bed when he gets startled by a voice singing a fairly good rendition of Roly Poly, till the person started belting out notes—scratch _that—shouting out_ notes. Jae stares at his wall wide-eyed, trying to figure out if that voice was just in his head or if his neighbor was actually screaming out T-ara lyics at 3 in the goddamn morning.

Jae sits still on his bed as the person kept going. _I'm going crazy_., he thinks, deciding to go ahead and get himself under the covers when he hears a very _very_ painful sounding thud from the other side of the wall, accompanied by a yelp and a curse word.

" _That fucking hurt, oh my God._ " A pause. " _Who told you you can stay there, huh? Stupid table_."

What.

Jae rubs at his face. _I'm definitely going crazy._ He shifts around in his bed. _Or maybe my neighbor is. Maybe both of us_. He closes his eyes. 

He falls asleep to the sound of muffled piano keys, but he thinks they're just in his head. 

 

 

\---

 

"Jae hyung, did you even sleep?"

Jae raises his eyes to Younghyun, whose mouth was immediately filled with food after he said that. "Is it that obvious?"

Younghyun takes a minute to swallow his food to reply. "Yeah. You look like shit. More than usual at least."

"Thanks." Jae deadpans, stuffing his face with pancakes Younghyun got him. "What a good friend you are."

"I know. I wouldn't bring you food if I wasn't." Jae rolls his eyes.

"But seriously," Younghyun places his fork down, catching Jae's attention. "You know it wouldn't hurt to skip a day of class. Especially if it meant you getting any rest."

"Wow, since when did you give me advice like this?"

"Just saying, hyung. I may be an annoying asshole half the time, but I still care. Besides, if Sungjin realizes you haven't been sleeping, he might as well knock you out cold." Younghyun quips, picking his fork back up as Jae groans at the thought of their other friend.

"Sungjin's a dad."

"A good dad."

"True."

They sit in a comfortable silence, soft music playing from Jae's phone. The moment Younghyun finishes his food, he snaps his fingers in front of Jae, startling him. 

"What?" Jae asks in an annoyed tone. 

"What's the real reason you aren't sleeping? Are you—" Younghyun leans on his arms resting in the table and Jae wants to punch his friend square on the nose. "Actually getting laid?" 

Jae sputters. "First of all, get your face away from me." He playfully shoves Younghyun's face back, earning a chuckle from the other. "And second, I get fucked by my subjects nearly every night, if that's what you mean." 

"Ooh, kinky." 

"Get out or I'm throwing you off the building." 

"Ooh, a throwing kink." 

Jae kicks the younger on the shin. 

 

 

\---

 

Jae finds himself in the same situation as the other night.

He was really trying to get himself to sleep this time, he finished up all his work a couple hours ago, but he made the mistake of drinking coffee halfway through. And now he's here, glasses perched on his nose, a book in his hands, and his legs under the covers.

_"Yah!"_

Jae jumps, eyes trained on the shared wall between him and his neighbor. Again.

 _"Everybody now,_ _1, 2_ _, 3!_ "

Jae puts his book down, sitting upright in his bed with his legs crossed. He doesn't hear any sort of music, so he assumes his neighbor was wearing earphones. He chuckles to himself, amused.

The humming was continuous, till he hears something hit the floor, his neighbor spewing out a string of apologies.

" _Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to_." A sigh. " _I should stop._ "

There was nothing but silence and the faint padding of feet on wood for a few moments and Jae thinks that his neighbor actually stopped — maybe gone to sleep or something. That's until he hears a chair get lightly dragged across the floor, a little hum—

And then there was the sound of piano melody.

Jae stares at his wall, mouth agape as he listens to his neighbor play note after note, singing with such a warm voice. The song registers as familiar to Jae a few bars in, a song by IU called _Through the Night._

He feels goosebumps appear on his skin as the chorus comes, and the voice starts to sound more powerful yet still mellow and full of feeling. Jae can blame it on his stress and sleep deprivation, but he starts to feel tears well up in his eyes.

Somewhere around the second chorus, his neighbor plays the wrong note and the singing and piano ceases in an instant, snapping Jae out of his trance. He hears a light giggle, a sigh, the chair scraping on the wood, and silence.

He stares, and later on finds himself on the brink of sleep, the same piano melody and warm voice repeating in his head.

 

\--

 

Jae is running late.

 

Jae is running roughly 25 minutes late for his class.

 _"Fuck."_ he hisses out, kicking away the covers and stumbling to the bathroom, brushing his teeth at record speed, ridding himself of his bed clothes and throwing on a hoodie he found resting on the back of his sofa — God knows when he last used it — and a clean pair of jeans. He sprays on some cologne just about everywhere, grabs his bag, keys, and wallet, rushes to the door, shoves his feet into his shoes and pulls the door open. He runs into the corridor, almost colliding with someone that seemed to be as much of in a rush as he was.

"Woah there." he breathes out, barely looking at the guy. "Sorry!" he apologizes before running to the stairs, slowing down a bit when he hears someone yell after him.

"Your shoes don't match!"

He looks down and lets out a low curse. Shaking his head, he retorts. "It's fashion!" And he runs off.

 

 

"Your shoes don't match."

Jae glares at Younghyun, still slightly panting from running through the campus and managing to slip into class without letting the professor catch him.

"It's fashion."

"Your fashion sense is dumb."

Jae rolls his eyes and takes out a notebook and a pen, listening to the lecture and he hears Younghyun snicker beside him, but proceeding to do the same as him.

"Overslept from too much—"

"Don't finish that sentence, Kang Younghyun."

"I don't know what you thought I was going to say but I was about to say _League."_ Jae glares at him again, earning a cheeky grin from his friend.

 

\---

 

"Younghyun told me you haven't been sleeping, hyung." Sungjin says with a worried tone. 

Younghyun earns his third glare from Jae that day.

"I'm fine. Younghyun was just overreacting—besides, we all pull consecutive all-nighters at one point of our lives." Jae reasons out, adjusting the bag strap on his shoulder. Sungjin hums as Younghyun stops to greet someone he knew.

"Not as bad as you though. At least we know how to take care of ourselves. As for you, you're so prone to sickness."

"Hey, don't overexaggerate. I'm fine, really, Sungjin."

Sungjin opens his mouth to give him a sassy retort but his phone rings, cutting him off. Jae waves him away and watches as Younghyun catches up with them.

"Sorry, I gotta go. I'll catch you two later." He looks at Jae pointedly. "You take care of yourself, hyung. Don't make our next meeting in the hospital. Again."

"Don't worry, I told you I'm fine!" He waves after Sungjin.

"What a dad." Younghyun says. 

"A good one."

 

 

\---

 

Jae faceplants onto his bed as soon as he gets home, tired from dealing with Younghyun's antics and thinking of the looming deadlines and finals that are just around the corner. He flips over and sits up, looking out his window.

The sun had just set, giving the sky a dark orange and blue hue that somewhat calms Jae's nerves. He doesn't know how long he's been sitting there, but he blinks, hearing the same soft piano melody from last night — or maybe earlier today.

His neighbor was singing again, a bit louder this time — probably because it wasn't 3 in the goddamn morning where most of the population was asleep — and Jae listens. He hears his neighbor miss a note, sigh, and start over. His eyes dart to his acoustic guitar leaning on the wall.

 _Nah._ He thinks. _I'll just sleep_.

 

And he does. 

 

 

\---

 

" _Yah, Yoon Dowoon!_ " 

Jae startles awake from a yell resounding through the admittedly thin walls of his apartment. He feels for his glasses on the bedside table, pushing away the covers checking the time. He had a good hour to get ready for his class, so he slumps back to bed, eyes closing once more.

" _Dowoon! You brat, why did you do that?_ "

Jae groans, contemplating walking over to the wall and knocking to shut them up but he decides against it, thinking that it's better to just get an early start on the day.

" _Wonpil hyung, the egg is about to burn._ "

He hears a yelp.

" _Dowoon, if you burn my kitchen down, I will kill you._ "

He hears a synchronized yelp.

" _Turn it off!_ "

A spatula—Jae assumes—falls to the floor.

_"Hyung—"_

Jae stands up and walks to the bathroom to take a shower. _It's too early for that_.

 

 

The conversation on the other side has died down, now just hushed whispers that are too unintelligible for Jae to understand. He grabs the things he needed for class and walks out of the apartment when he hears another yelp from next door, the door flying open and a guy comes rushing outside slamming the door shut and leaning back on it. 

Jae chooses to walk away from the chaos that was happening. 

 

 - - -

 

**annoying kid**

hyung dnt go 2 class

  **jae**

why

 

**annoying kid**

pls

 

**jae**

no.

 

**annoying kid**

sungjin hyung will kill me

 

**jae**

what did you do

 

**annoying kid**

u know how we were supposed to get lunch together

i told him u rnt coming to class

i

i hve no excuse 

pls

**jae**

please say sike

just date him and go stop dragging me to this mess

 

**annoying kid**

hyung pls i will do ur hw

he was actlly happy abt u resting

so

 

**jae**

do i have a choice

 

**annoying kid**

ily hyung tnx

 

**jae**

you owe me

 

**annoying kid**

ok bye profs here ill send u notes from jimin later

mwah

rest well

 

 

Jae pockets his phone, groaning. He goes to the coffee shop in campus to grab a drink before going back to his place to catch up on some sleep. Or maybe some studying.

He walks in and someone bumps into him, who nearly topples over so Jae reaches out to steady them. "Woah there, are you okay?"

The guy looks up and a blush creeps from his neck to his cheeks as he registers Jae's face. "Uh—"

The guy starts to stutter so Jae lets go. "You good there?" 

"Yeah, very." The guy straightens up. "Thank you." He looks at Jae and bows before walking towars the door, bidding Jae goodbye with a small voice.

 

 - - -

 

Jae manages to finish a paper and a half just before the sun has set. He takes out his earphones, stretching and hearing his joints pop. He groans in relief.

" _Okay! Let's fucking do this!_ "

Jae's lips curl up at the sound of his neighbor being enthusiastic at this time of day. He waits for his neighbor to start playing piano before standing up, eyeing the guitar on the wall again.

 _Why the fuck not?,_ he thinks.

As if walking on autopilot, he grabs a chair and places it by the wall, grabbing his phone on the way. He searches up chords to the song because he doubts he can play it by ear, and positions the guitar comfortably on his thigh.

He wait for a timing, somewhere around the chorus, and he starts to play along. But as soon as he started, he hears a clink, something like a spoon in a mug. His neighbor cusses as a thud comes from something hitting the wooden floor, and Jae bites down on his lip to suppress a smile forming on his lips. He knocks on the wall, earning him another yelp.

"Uh—" he clears his throat. "You good there?"

Flr a moment there was silence, and Jae starts to feel like maybe he shouldn't have interrupted his neighbor. He opens his mouth with an apology on the tip of his tongue when he hears a muffled giggle.

"Yeah, I just—coffee. On my leg. I'm kinda clumsy so—anyway yeah, I'm fine. I'm good."

Jae smiles despite the fact that his neighbor can't see him, let alone know what he looks like. "Hot?"

A beat of silence. Some muffled muttering. Jae was about to ask if it actually really hurt and if he needed help when he hears a loud 'oh'.

 _"Oh._ Hot—the coffee—yeah—I mean no, it's not that hot. A little bit. It's actually cold. But no, it doesn't hurt."

"That's good then." Jae shifts in his seat. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

The lull in the conversation was incredibly awkward and Jae was about to just apologize and stand up and maybe never go out again when his neighbor knocks on the wall. "You still there?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Wanna start over?" Jae grins at the offer.

"Sure."

 

They say their goodnights right after they finished the song, and Jae feels light. He washes up and falls asleep almost immediately. 

 

\--

 

" _Dowoon, there's a fucking spider on the wall!_ "

" _I can see that, hyung, stop screaming! You have neighbors!_ "

Jae wakes up. He keeps his eyes closed as he tries to keep calm, only opening them when he hears a scream.

_Goddamn._

He kicks away his blankets and walks over to the wall and knocks on it without hesitation. He hears a scream and a belated shout and he sighs. "Hey, yeah, do you need help or something? Maybe call the police?"

As Jae waits for a reply, he hears a mumbled question, someone asking someone else who he was. Jae knocks again.

" _Hi, yeah, we're fine—_ "

" _We aren't, there's a huge spider right on the wall where you're knocking—please stop knocking or it might jump towards us and I will start to cry—_ "

"Okay, I get it." Jae rubs his eyes, thinking as much as he can while he's still somewhat half asleep. "Wait there." He walks to his door, exits his apartment and knocks on his neighbor's door. 

There was a bit of shuffling behind the door before it opens up, revealing a guy in an oversized sweater, thick-rimmed glasses, with his bangs falling down short of his eyes. 

"Hi?" 

"Hey. Do you need help with the spider or not?" 

The guy's eyes widen before stepping aside to let Jae in. "Hey wait, are you the guy who played the guitar last night?"

"Maybe." Jae answers. "Can you get me a piece of cardboard and a container?"

The guy looks at the other person in the room, who scurries off to look for the things asked. The other guy clears his throat.

"I'm sorry for waking you up." Jae looks at him. "I'm Wonpil. The other kid was Dowoon." 

"Jae." He smiles. "And no, it's okay."

Wonpil hums, slightly distracted as he stares at nothing in particular. "You have a really nice voice."

Jae laughs at the statement. "I could say the same to you." Wonpil blushes.

"I—"

"Here." Dowoon comes back in the room with a tupperware and a cardboard ad of something Jae doesn't really know of. He mutters a thanks as he take the items, walking cautiously towards where the alleged spider was. 

"So, where is it?"

"Over there."

Jae looks at where they were pointing and—

"That's the _huge spider_?" Jae asks incredulous.

"Yes?"

Jae huffs. The spider was no bigger than an inch, innocently staying still on the wall. Jae covers it gently with the tupperware before sliding the cardboard under it, trapping the spider. He asks Wonpil to open the window where he gently releases the creature.

"A hero." Wonpil mutters as a phone rings from the counter. Dowoon walks over and answers the call.

"Hey hyung, I gotta go. Sungjin hyung's waiting for me."

"You know Sungjin?" Jae asks.

"Unfortunately." Wonpil replies and Jae feels laughter bubbling in his throat. "Bye Woon." 

"Tell him Jae said hi. Don't explain anything." 

Dowoon gives him a thumbs up before leaving the room. 

The door shuts close behind Dowoon and Jae looks around. _He should probably leave—_

"You know," he starts instead, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. "You shouldn't blame a table for being in your way." 

Wonpil looks at him in confusion before his face flushes red. "Oh my God, you heard that." 

"Amongst other things, yes." 

"Oh my God."

Jae laughs as Wonpil buries his face into his hands in embarrassment. "Hey, you really do have a nice voice though."

Wonpil groans. "Can I please vanish?" 

"You can try." Jae smiles. "There was a time I teared up while listening to you sing."

"What—"

"And then I slept better that night than I have been for the past week. So thank you for that."

Wonpil was looking at him directly now, eyes filled with disbelief and surprise, his hands resting on his chest. "Y-you're welcome?"

Jae nods his head. "I should get going now. See you around, Wonpil."

"Okay—wait, Jae!" Wonpil calls him. "Do you want to go get food sometime? My treat for saving me from the spider!"

"Sounds great, Wonpil." Jae replies and Wonpil beams at him.

 

\---

 

A knock startles him later that night.

" _Jae, there's a spider._ "

"Again?"

" _Yeah, and it's telling me to ask for your number._ "

Jae hears Wonpil's muffled laughter through the wall and he feels warm inside.

"What an intellectual spider." he laughs. 

" _Yeah, it's so smart. Please come over and dispose of it._ "

Jae smiles, pulling a sweater over his head. 

"If you say so, Pil." 

**Author's Note:**

> im dead inside [twt](https://twitter.com/nightinjae)


End file.
